Disposable medical gown

ABSTRACT

A low cost, disposable medical gown fashioned from a single piece of fabric with an unbroken front panel and seams extending from the armpit underneath the sleeves to the cuffs and across the back, having back panels that may overlap to fully close the back of the gown, and with no seams in the front panel of the gown providing a bacteria barrier free of seams or sewing needle sewn seams holes.

United States Patent [191 Benevento et al.

[4 1 Oct. 14, 1975 DISPOSABLE MEDICAL GOWN [75] Inventors: JosephBenevento; Kurt W. Hinsch,

both of Tucson, Ariz.

[73] Assignee: Kimberly-Clark Corporation,

Neenah, Wis.

[22] Filed: June 6, 1974 [2]] Appl. No.: 477,150

[52] US. Cl 2/114; 2/DIG. 7 [51] Int. Cl. A41B 9/00 [58] Field of Search2/1 14, 74, 69, 69.5, 111

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1924 Moses 2/114 8/1949Lupo 2/l 14 Auer 2/69.5 Patience 2/ 1 14 Primary ExaminerAlfred R. GuestAttorney, Agent, or FirmWolfe, Hubbard, Leydig, Voit & Osann, Ltd.

[ ABSTRACT A low cost, disposable medical gown fashioned from a singlepiece of fabric with an unbroken front panel and seams extending fromthe armpit underneath the sleeves to the cuffs and across the back,having back panels that may overlap to fully close the back of the gown,and with no seams in the front panel of the gown providing a bacteriabarrier free of seams or sewing needle sewn seams holes.

2 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures US. Patent Oct. 14, 1975 Sheet10f2 3,911,499

US. Patent Oct. 14, 1975 Sheet 2 of2 3,911,499

DISPOSABLE MEDICAL GOWN This invention relates to disposable medicalgowns, and more particularly gowns of the type worn by a medical staffin operating rooms, hospitals, sick rooms or diagnostic facilities.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a disposable medicalgown which presents a front panel free of seams and sewing needle sewseam holes and thus provides a bacteria barrier in the critical areafacing the patient.

An additional object is to provide a method for making such a disposablegown, which method features relatively few fashioning steps for makingsuch a garment from a single piece of nonwoven' material.

Other and more particular objects will become apparent as thedescription of this invention proceeds.

FIG. 1 is a frontal perspective view of a gown of the invention as wornby a staff member;

FIG. 2 is a rear semi-perspective view of a gown of the invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a piece of material cut into the pattern for thegownlying flat;

FIG. 4-FIG. 6 illustrate, in general sequence, the operations in foldingand sewing the piece of material shown in FIG. 3 to fashion the gown ofthis invention.

While the invention will be described in conjunction with illustrativeembodiments as depicted in the drawings, it is apparent that these arefor illustrative purposes only. Accordingly, various alternatives,modifications and variations will be evident to those skilled in the artin the light of the illustrations and accordingly it is intended toembrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations as fallwithin the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

Medical gowns worn by staff members typically are fashioned either fromtextile material and laundered after each wearing, or are made fromtextile substitutes and discarded after each use. Conventional gowns ofeither type are made with various seams in the front of the gown, forexample, at the shoulder where the sleeves are fastened to the bodyportion of the gown. Where such seams are sewn as is conventional, thesewing needle holes provide openings through which bacteria may passfrom the staff member wearing the gown to the patient, which may beharmful to the patient. Where the seams are not sewn but fused or formedby the use of cohesives or adhesives, there may be gaps in the length ofa seam breaching the bacteria barrier on the front of the gown.

In keeping with the invention, and inviting attention to FIGS. 1 and 2,the garment of this invention is fashioned with a front panel 10extending continuously and without seams from the neck portion 12downward to about the knees of the wearer and across the front of thebody and outwardly along both arms. This front panel 10 has sections 14,16 at both sides below the armpit areas 18, 20 which after foldingextend around the sides and across the back of the wearer to the middleof the back, and sleeve sections 22, 24 which extend outwardly and afterfolding meet underneath the arms. These sleeve sections 22, 24 furtherhave panels 26, 28 which extend across the top of the back of the wearerto about the middle of the back. The sleeve sections 22, 24, whichextend from the front panel 10 and meet underneath the arms areconnected by seams 30, 32 extending from each cuff or wrist 34, 36underneath each arm to the armpit areas 18, 20. The sections 14, 16extending from the front panel 10 around both sides and across the backare joined to the panels 26, 28 extending across the top and the back ofthe wearer from the sleeve sections by seams 38, 40 extending from thearmpit areas across the back to terminal points 42, 44. A substantiallyrectangular insert 45 cut from the scrap adjacent the side section 16and secured to the top back panel by the seam 46 and the lower section14 by the seam 38' extends the top back panel 26 so that it forms anoverlap of the same width as the lower back panel section 14 in theoverlap style of gown shown.

When completely finished as shown in FIG. 2, the complete front panel ofthe gown has no exposed seams, and the seams 30, 32, 38, 38, 46 that arerequired to provide a form fitting garment are entirely on the back ofthe garment and underneath the arms. Thus the front panel of the gownprovides a bacteria barrier to the passage of bacteria from the staffmember wearing the gown to the patient.

In keeping with the invention, and referring to the sequence of FIGS.4-6, the gown of this invention is made by taking a single piece offabric cut to the pattern illustrated in FIG. 3, and folding andsecuring the various sections and panels to each other as shown in FIGS.4 and 5 to fashion the completed garment as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and6.

The fabric used for the garment is preferably nonwoven material such ascreped wadding reinforced by a web or textile fibers and made in theform of a laminate of such materials as described for example in US.Pat. No. 3,484,330 or such fabric may be crepted wadding reinforced byscrim, a central layer of polyethylene film, or other materials. Whilesuch fabrics are porous, the cellulosic wadding webs embodied in suchmaterials are made of closely formed wood pulp fibers with microscopicpores that provide a bacteria barrier if unbreached, and the materialsmay be further treated to enhance the bacteria barrier properties. Otherfabrics such as webs of synthetic fibers of continuous filaments havingtextile-like properties may also be used.

Referring to FIG. 3, the single piece of fabric from which the gown isfashioned is cut from a web with essentially triangular shaped piecesremoved from opposite lateral sides of the web leaving wedge shapedcutouts, 48, 50 and with a circular neck opening along basically thelongitudinal axis of the web. A narrow piece is cut from the neckopening to the leading edge of the piece leaving an open slot 52. Bothsleeve sections 22, 24 are tapered to give shape to the sleeves in thefinished garment.

As shown in FIG. 4, the sleeve sections 22, 24 are folded on themselvesalong a common line extending transversely to the longitudinal axis ofthe web. To finish the sleeves the edges of the sleeve sections 22, 24extending from the cuffs 34, 36 to the armpit areas 18, 2O underneaththe sleeves are seamed 30, 32, either by sewing, glueing with adhesive,heat sealing or the like, depending on the particular fabric employed.After folding and finishing of the sleeves as shown in FIG. 4, the sidesections 14, 16 of the front panel 10 are then folded behind the frontpanel along longitudinal fold lines extending downward from the armpitareas 18, 20. The right side section 14 is shown folded in FIG. 5 andwhere it abuts in the back of the gown the right panel 26 extending fromthe right sleeve section 22, a horizontal seam 38 is formed as bysewing, glueing, or

heat sealing. The insert 45 is also secured to fill out the right backpanel by the seams 38 and 46.

The left side section 16 extending from the front panel is similarlyfolded inwardly behind the front panel as shown in FIG. 6 and where itabuts the back panel 28 extending inwardly from the left sleeve section24a seam 40 is formed which is sewn, glued or fused or heat sealed.

In the described embodiment an overlap is provided in the finished gownas shown in FIG. 6, the right back sleeve panel 26 and insert 45together, and right side section 14 being made wider than one half thegown width so as to overlap the vertical edge of the left back panel l6,18. In the overlapped position the back panels may be secured togetheras by means of self attaching strips 54-57 two on each back panel andfacing each other as illustrated in FIG. 6. The self attaching stripsmaybe cohesive, adhesive, or other devices such Velcro strips.Alternatively, both back panels may extend half the width of the gownleaving an opening between the vertical edges of the panels, and thepanels may be secured together in the back of the gown by ties orslightly overlapped and secured by fasteners of the mechanical type orof the self attachment type.

Thus it is apparent that there has been provided, according to theinvention, a gown fashioned from a single piece of fabric and having anunbroken front panel providing a bacteria barrier free of seams in thefront of the gown. The gown is capable of being manufactured at low costof low cost materials yet it solves a problem and overcomes an objectionto conventional gownsheretofore made in preventing harmful bacteria frombeing passed from the staff member wearing the gown to a patient beingtreated or diagnosed.

We claim as our invention:

1. A medical gown comprising:

a single unitary front panel extending continuously and without seamsfrom the neck portion downward to about the knees of the wearer acrossthe front of the body and outwardly along both arms,

the front panel extending continuously and without seams to providesections at both sides, below the armpit areas extending around thesides and across the back of the wearer to the middle of the back andsections along both arms extending around the arms and meetingunderneath the arms, said sections along both arms further having toppanels extending across the top of the back of the wearer to about themiddle of the back,

said sections meeting underneath both arms being connected by seamsextending from each wrist underneath each arm to the armpit areas, andsaid sections at both sides extending across the back being joined tosaid panels by horizontal seams extending from the armpit area acrossthe back of the gown,

such that the complete front of the gown when worn has no exposed seams,and the seams required for a form fitting garment are entirely on theback of the wearer and underneath the arms.

2. A medical gown according to claim 1 wherein one of said sections atthe sides of said first panel extends across the back and overlaps theother of said sections, and one of said two panels has an extension tooverlap the other top back panel, so as to provide an overlap in theback closing the back of the gown.

1. A medical gown comprising: a single unitary front panel extending continuously and without seams from the neck portion downward to about the knees of the wearer across the front of the body and outwardly along both arms, the front panel extending continuously and without seams to provide sections at both sides, below the armpit areas extending around the sides and across the back of the wearer to the middle of the back and sections along both arms extending around the arms and meeting underneath the arms, said sections along both arms further having top panels extending across the top of the back of the wearer to about the middle of the back, said sections meeting underneath both arms being connected by seams extending from each wrist underneath each arm to the armpit areas, and said sections at both sides extending across the back being joined to said panels by horizontal seams extending from the armpit area across the back of the gown, such that the complete front of the gown when worn has no exposed seams, and the seams required for a form fitting garment are entirely on the back of the wearer and underneath the arms.
 2. A medical gown according to claim 1 wherein one of said sections at the sides of said first panel extends across the back and overlaps the other of said sections, and one of said two panels has an extension to overlap the other top back panel, so as to provide an overlap in the back closing the back of the gown. 